Power loaders are commonly used on farm tractors and other power vehicles which have various working implements for handling gravel, manure, bales and other general items in the farm and construction sites. The power loader includes a sub-frame assembly for supporting spaced-apart loader boom members on the power vehicle. The sub-frame assembly is mounted on the vehicle where the boom members are hinged to the sub-frame assembly and hydraulic cylinders or the like are used to raise and lower the boom members and thereby control the shovel, bucket or the like at the front of the loader. Hydraulic cylinders are normally used to control the movement of the bucket.
A typical power loader is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,254,780 issued June 7, 1966. The sub-frame assembly and the loader boom arms are assembled ready for use. For purposes of shipping, this structure is extremely bulky and considerably adds to the space for shipping requirements. Another problem encountered with the boom arms being permanently secured together, is that in the manufacturing process, considerable manufacturing space is required to provide the necessary jigs to perform the welding of the pieces to the boom arms and interconnect them with the cross-members. Subsequent sandblasting and painting of the units and machining of various surfaces becomes an elaborate process.
The power loader arrangement according to this invention overcomes these problems by providing mechanical interconnection for the sub-frame assembly and the boom members to facilitate manufacture and shipping.